RideLondon 100 to deliver on cycling's Olympic legacy

Britain’s largest mass participation cycling event, the RideLondon-Surrey 100 will start a day when cycling takes centre stage in London.

One year on from the Olympic Games, elite level racing in the capital is accompanied by what many are calling cycling’s London Marathon as 20,000 participants ride 100 miles on parts of the Olympic road race course, before the professionals take to the same roads.

Starting from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the 20,000 will include Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Olympic gold medallist Joanna Rowsell – both finding common ground in the challenge of riding 100 miles for the first time.

Johnson’s ambition of turning London into a “paradise for cycling” will be first realised on Saturday, as an expected 50,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities fill eight miles of traffic-free streets in central London for the Prudential FreeCycle.

Saturday evening’s entertainment includes the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix, with three criterium races starting on The Mall and following a 1.3 mile lap of St. James’ Park. Racing will feature around 100 of the world’s top cyclists from British and international teams who will line up against Olympic heroines Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell and Dani King at 18:30. This race will be preceded by the handcycle race ay 17:00 and youths’ race at 17:45.

Starting from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at 12:45 and finishing in an expected bunch sprint on The Mall at 18:00, favourites include Tour de France green jersey winner Peter Sagan and Britian’s Ben Swift.

The BBC will be broadcasting extensive coverage of all the events, including live coverage of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic on the red button.